Sega: iPhone is as powerful as Dreamcast

We knew Sega had the hots for the iPhone, with its port of Super Monkey Ball kicking a ton of coins into its company coffers, but now it seems there’re more titles on the horizon, as its head honcho reveals the platform is as powerful as the Dreamcast console.

The gaming fans at Kotaku had a chat with SEGA America president Simon Jeffery, who said the company was “deliriously happy” with Super Monkey Ball’s reception on the iPhone, and that SEGA is “going to have a pretty substantial iPhone development effort.”

“It’s everything that the N-Gage wasn’t as a gaming device,” he said.

Comparing the iPhone to the rest of the mobile gaming world, Jeffery said it was a breath of fresh air: “Why people play those crappy games on their mobile phones, I’ll never understand. But the iPhone changes that completely. You’re playing Dreamcast quality games on this tiny little device. It’s pretty impressive.

“We’re looking at what we can do on the iPhone… we’re really happy with Super Monkey Ball and it proves that our properties resonate with the casual gaming demographic, so looking back to our Dreamcast content makes sense.”

Jeffery also confirmed there are “quite a few” SEGA games in development for the iPhone right now, which include some “very cool stuff”.

Speaking about the competition from other publishers, he said: “I think by this time next year there will be an absolute cluster [of iPhone games]. Every developer is rushing to do it. It’s cheap, and everyone is going to look to their catalogue to bring stuff over. We have a natural advantage there, but I think it’s a really cool and interesting time for the industry.”

So there you have it. Armfuls of new iPhone games from SEGA in the coming months, and maybe the resurrection of some old Dreamcast favourites.

TBC | £TBC | Via Kotaku

Related stories